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Marcantonio Pasqualini (1614–1691) Crowned by Apollo

1641
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 618
Religious rules prohibited women from performing in Catholic churches, contributing to the rise of castrati, male sopranos who were castrated before the onset of puberty. Among the most celebrated castrati, Pasqualini is crowned in this portrait by the god Apollo, who had been victorious in a musical contest with the satyr Marsyas (shown in the background, defeated and tied to a tree with his bagpipes beside him). Pasqualini joined the choir of the Sistine Chapel in 1630, and from 1632 was a protagonist in many operas produced at the Palazzo Barberini, for which Sacchi designed sets.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Marcantonio Pasqualini (1614–1691) Crowned by Apollo
  • Artist: Andrea Sacchi (Italian, Rome (?) ca. 1599–1661 Rome)
  • Date: 1641
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 96 x 76 1/2 in. (243.8 x 194.3 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Enid A. Haupt Gift and Gwynne Andrews Fund, 1981
  • Object Number: 1981.317
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Figure and Drapery studies (recto); Three Studies of a Male Torso for the "Coronation of Marcantonio Pasqualini'" (verso), Andrea Sacchi Italian, Red and white chalk (recto); red chalk (verso)
Figure and Drapery studies (recto); Three Studies of a Male Torso for the "Coronation of Marcantonio Pasqualini'" (verso)
Andrea Sacchi
1641
Abraham Dismissing Hagar, Andrea Sacchi Italian, Red chalk; highlighted with white lead which has turned black
Abraham Dismissing Hagar
Andrea Sacchi
1599–1661
A Carthusian Saint Visiting the Plague Stricken, Andrea Sacchi (?) Italian, Pen and brown ink, gray wash, and black chalk on paper
A Carthusian Saint Visiting the Plague Stricken
Andrea Sacchi
1599–1661
Holy Family, Andrea Sacchi Italian, Brush and brown wash, heightened with white on tan paper
Holy Family
Andrea Sacchi
1599–1661
The Shipwrecked Alphone Rescues Lisamante from a Panther, Andrea Sacchi Italian, Pen and brown ink, brown wash highlighted with white, on brownish paper
The Shipwrecked Alphone Rescues Lisamante from a Panther
Andrea Sacchi
1599–1661

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